Our Focus series shines the spotlight on the details: the extraordinary materials, spaces, and ideas that take great projects to the next level.

At first glance, Cecilia Hedin’s summerhouse in southern Sweden might appear just to be another restored farmhouse. “It’s actually a completely new house, but with an old soul,” explains architect Sara Lunneryd of Lunneryd Arkitekter.

When Cecilia bought the original house on the coast of Halland in southwest Sweden, a region famed for its sandy beaches and windswept fields of rye, her intention was to restore it.

The area holds a special place in Cecilia’s heart as her family already owned an adjacent property. “I wanted my three children to enjoy the same summer vacations I’d had, and that my mother had had before me,” she says.

The main areas are minimalist and typically Nordic in style, with their muted, light-beige walls, pinewood floors, and salvaged wooden beams." layout="bleed" credit="Photo by Cecilia Magnusson" photoUserId=""/>

When, on closer inspection, the 1764 farmhouse was found to be dilapidated beyond repair, Cecilia had to make the difficult decision to demolish and rebuild it.

“We took it down piece by piece, numbering every plank and rescuing every detail that could be reused,” she explains.

While the main areas are defined by tasteful Scandinavian minimalism, the smaller spaces are boldly and unexpectedly colorful: from the children’s bedrooms to the yellow pantry, the blue staircase, and the three monochrome bathrooms, respectively resplendent in pink, green, and blue. Sara explains that the original house steered the palette for its successor, with every splash of color having been either reused or inspired by what was there before.

“We found this beautiful old wallpaper that provided the color scheme for many of the statement pieces,” adds Cecilia.

This also goes for the emerald-green fireplace, built from scratch in the same spot as the original stove. While the old tiles that Cecilia discovered were too badly damaged to reuse, their replacements, made by the same company that provides the glazed ceramic tiles for the London Underground, were purposely designed in the same rich shade of green.

The new house, while not a replica of its predecessor, occupies the same plot of land, with the exception of one room that has been added as an extension of the main living room. Affectionately known as the “red room,” it is perhaps the most eye-catching space of all.

In this new room, they decided to “bring the outside in,” explains Sara.

The color chosen for the striking shingles on the walls, as well as the ceiling, is Swedish Falu red, the classic shade used for the facades of wooden cottages and barns in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The color has its origins in the Falun copper mine in central Sweden, dating back to the 9th century.

“Since this is the only addition to the original footprint, we switched things around, putting the outdoor color and material on the inside,” explains Sara.

As for the window frames, they are painted lime green with linseed oil color NCS 3010-G60Y. In summer, Cecilia says they blend so well with the landscape that you cannot detect where the inside ends and the outside begins.

Cecilia admits her favorite spot is at the opposite end of the living room: “From there, I can see the green fireplace, the red room, and through the green windows frames into the nature outside.”

More Focus stories:

This Forest Home in Chile Is Elevated to Float Among the Trees

It’s Always Springtime in This Serene Thai Home With an Indoor Tree

The Coolest Indoor Tree House Is Tucked Away in This Stately Tudor

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Sara Lunneryd, Lunneryd Arkitekter / @lunnerydarkitekter

Builder: Ulf Aronsson Bygg AB

Interior Design: Cecilia Hedin

Cabinetry Design: Möbelsnickeri Krister Mårtensson

Appears In

She Couldn’t Save the 1764 Farmhouse—But Its Colorful Spirit Lives On